A number of factors seem to have contributed to the bumpy homecoming: a residual anger among Democrats for the attack-dog role Palin assumed in the McCain campaign, lingering resentment from Republicans for the part she may have played in McCain's defeat, and a suspicion crossing party lines that the concerns of Alaska, at a time of economic crisis, will now be secondary to her future in national politics.

Nearly every move that Palin makes or does not make, acknowledges Joe Balash, one of her closest aides, is analyzed through a new political prism, scrutinized for its effect on a possible 2012 presidential candidacy. "There's nothing we can do to stop it," he said. "People wonder why she's doing something or not doing something."

The result of all this scrutiny and second-guessing, says one Republican ally, is that "the governor has been feeling beaten up."

Well ain't that a shame. It may be that she's feeling beaten up because her bad policies, ethics violations and obstructionist behavior is catching up to her. Her Attorney General had to resign for his role in Troopergate. She has to pay back taxes for past per diem expenses of trucking her whole family around Alaska on the public's dime. And her daughter Bristol managed to cough out the truth about the futility of abstinence-only education, which should be a benefit and a refreshing dose of reality, but will be met with shock in the social conservative milieu.

It might not be all the pressure, it might be that Palin is a bad politician.